The West of Ireland: Dimensions of distinctiveness

Introducing a collection of articles asking 'How can unique and distinctive regions, like the West of Ireland, retain the qualities that make them unique while continuing to modernise and interact with the wider world?'

What is synthesis? Discover how this way of thinking helps us to understand more about the way in which places retain their uniqueness within wider systems of interdependence.

Culture and how language identifies that culture are key to understanding what makes a region unique.

The rundale system once governed how farmland was distributed between tenants in Ireland. It supposedly died out in the 19th century, but this was not actually the case in some parts of the West of Ireland.

How did the rural areas of Western Ireland change after the rundale system was replaced?

The population of Western Ireland declined dramatically between 1891 and 1961. How do you think this affected Ireland as a whole?

The period of the 1950s to 1980s was the beginning of modernisation in community life and farming and the development of manufacturing industry in the West of Ireland.

In 1983, the fight to retain a unique Irish speaking culture meant that jobs had to be created locally in manufacturing and tourism so that Irish speakers no longer had to emigrate, but industrialisation also threatened the survival of the Irish language.

Father James McDyer discusses the dilemma of the Glencolmcille holiday village between development, language and culture and the threat of depopulation. Tourism is important for economic development but what impact does it have on local culture and the Irish language?

We revisit the Glencolmcille folk village in 2015 to see whether the dilemma of development and the local language and culture has been resolved.

In Southwest Donegal, we see both the local uniqueness and different interdependencies and interconnections with other places.

The future of rural Ireland - nuances, scale and fighting back

Introducing a collection of articles asking 'How can unique and distinctive regions, like the West of Ireland, retain the qualities that make them unique while continuing to modernise and interact with the wider world?'

What is synthesis? Discover how this way of thinking helps us to understand more about the way in which places retain their uniqueness within wider systems of interdependence.

Culture and how language identifies that culture are key to understanding what makes a region unique.

The rundale system once governed how farmland was distributed between tenants in Ireland. It supposedly died out in the 19th century, but this was not actually the case in some parts of the West of Ireland.

How did the rural areas of Western Ireland change after the rundale system was replaced?

The population of Western Ireland declined dramatically between 1891 and 1961. How do you think this affected Ireland as a whole?

The period of the 1950s to 1980s was the beginning of modernisation in community life and farming and the development of manufacturing industry in the West of Ireland.

In 1983, the fight to retain a unique Irish speaking culture meant that jobs had to be created locally in manufacturing and tourism so that Irish speakers no longer had to emigrate, but industrialisation also threatened the survival of the Irish language.

Father James McDyer discusses the dilemma of the Glencolmcille holiday village between development, language and culture and the threat of depopulation. Tourism is important for economic development but what impact does it have on local culture and the Irish language?

We revisit the Glencolmcille folk village in 2015 to see whether the dilemma of development and the local language and culture has been resolved.

In Southwest Donegal, we see both the local uniqueness and different interdependencies and interconnections with other places.

The future of rural Ireland - nuances, scale and fighting back